Looking for flamenco in O.C.? He's shown the way

Jan. 29, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Flamenco dancer Justine "La Tinita" Grover performs during a tribute concert in honor of Ted McKown. McKown has taught flamenco guitar in Orange County for decades. Grover calls him "the epicenter of flamenco in Orange County." ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Aida Ganddini performs with Duende Flamenco on a recent Saturday at Tapas in Newport Beach. Duende does an hour-long set of flamenco music and dance every Saturday at the Spanish-themed restaurant. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Members of Duende Flamenco, from left, Michon "Cita" Downs, James "Sina" Samimi, Ali "El Poeta" Nourbakhsh, Kenji Bakuya and Justine "La Tinita" Grover hosted a tribute concert in honor of former flamenco guitar teacher Ted McKown. Samimi and Bakuya are two of his former students who took guitar lessons from him. Their group now performs at Tapas restaurant in Newport Beach. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco performer Justine "La Tinita" Grover entrances the audience at Newport Beach's Tapas restaurant with a red shawl that was part of her dance. Shawls, fans and castanets are often used by flamenco dancers. She recently opened her own dance studio in Anaheim, Naranjita Flamenco. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Flamenco dancers Michon "Cita" Downs, left, and Justine "La Tinita" Grover perform Sevillanas during a tribute concert in November in honor of longtime flamenco guitar instructor Ted McKown. McKown and his students have accompanied the dancers at Blanca Luz Academy in Buena Park, where Grover says she first met him. She joins McKown, who speaks four languages and is well-versed in art and culture, and others for a meal at Felix Continental Cafe in Orange now and then. "I just like being around him," she says. "I hope a bit of him rubs off on me." PHOTO BY ROSE PALMISANO, TEXT BY THERESA WALKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Justine "La Tinita" Grover expresses the passion of flamenco as she and other members of Duende Flamenco perform Bulerias and Sevillanas during a tribute concert in honor of flamenco guitar teacher Ted McKown. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Aida Ganddini dances in the cozy setting at Tapas restaurant in Newport Beach. Ganddini is a member of Duende Flamenco, a group started by guitarists James Samimi and Kenji Bakuya, both former students of flamenco guitar instructor Ted McKown. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ali "El Poeta" Nourbakhsh shares a moment with flamenco guitar teacher Ted McKown during a tribute concert in his honor at his apartment complex in Orange. Nourbakhsh plays the cajon, a wooden box drum used in flamenco music. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Charlie Sweeney, 4, joins her aunt Justine "La Tinita" Grover on stage as Duende Flamenco performs on a recent Saturday night. The little girl has never had a flamenco dance lesson, but picked up moves from watching her aunt. Grover just opened her own dance studio in Anaheim, Naranjita Flamenco. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown gets a kiss from flamenco dancer Justine "La Tinita" Grover after a tribute concert in his honor. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Kenji Bakuya is a flamenco guitarist who says he grew up listening to his father's Paco de Lucia's albums. His father, a native of Japan, learned to play flamenco guitar. Flamenco has been highly popular in Japan for a long time. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown, 78, continues to teach private guitar lessons, even if he can't play guitar himself anymore. McKown was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2006 and his hands shake too much for him to hold a guitar. He is philosophical about it: "I've done my share. Now I enjoy as much to watch. Of course, I'll forever be indebted to the guitar because it allowed me to enjoy life in a way few people ever experience." PHOTO BY ROSE PALMISANO, TEXT BY THERESA WALKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco performer Justine "La Tinita" Grover dances with an unidentified member of the audience at Tapas. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Flamenco dancer Justine "La Tinita" Grover had the crowd at Palmyra Senior Apartments going with her flamenco moves one night in November. Two of Ted McKown's former students hosted the tribute concert in his honor at the senior apartment building where he lives in Orange. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown, right, 78, has taught flamenco guitar since the 1950s, and some of his former students held a tribute concert in November at his home in Orange that included flamenco dancers and a percussionist. Justine "La Tinita" Grover, left, was one of the dancers. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco guitarist James "Sina" Samimi fingers the strings of his guitar during a performance at Tapas in Newport Beach, which included flamenco Sevillanas as well as rhumba and flamenco bulerias. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown, left , continues to give private guitar lessons at his home in Orange. Rudy Aguila, who teaches junior high English in Santa Ana, is one of his regular students. Here, Aguila discusses notations in a music sheet transcribed by his his teacher. McKown, 78, has Parkinson's disease and can no longer play guitar, but still instructs about 20 students a week in private lessons. Says McKown: "You can't get too much flamenco." PHOTO BY ROSE PALMISANO, TEXT BY THERESA WALKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco performers Aida Ganddini, left, and Justine "La Tinita" Grover keep the compås, or rhythm, with handclaps, also known as "palmas" in flamenco music. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown, 78, continues to teach private lessons at his home in Orange. Rudy Aguila, left, is one of his regular students. Aguila, a junior high teacher, became interested in flamenco music after seeing famed guitarist Paco de Lucia in concert. He's taken lessons from McKown for nine years. "To me," Aguila says of flamenco music, "it's kind of almost like the Spanish blues. It's just so passionate. Some songs are really kind of dark. The more Moorish stuff is really kind of mysterious and sad. Then there are real fun songs that are upbeat." PHOTO BY ROSE PALMISANO, TEXT BY THERESA WALKER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Performer Macarena Sainz moves with the rhythm provided by Duende Flamenco at Tapas restaurant in Newport Beach. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Flamenco guitar instructor Ted McKown has transcribed about 180 music sheets with traditional flamenco music for his students. McKown, 78, knows it all by heart. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Kenji Bakuya performs at Tapas with the group Duende Flamenco. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Ted McKown fell in love with the romance and passion of flamenco music, he says. The decor in the living room of his apartment in Orange reflects his interest in the music and other art. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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James "Sina" Samimi says he learned to love flamenco by listening to the radio in his father's car as a child. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Aida Ganddini gives a dramatic performance as she fans out her skirt during a Saturday evening set by Duende Flamenco at Tapas in Newport Beach. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco performed at Tapas restaurant in Newport Beach and dedicated the Jan. 9 show to flamenco guitar teacher Ted McKown, who watched from his table. The group's guitarists, James Samimi and Kenji Bukuya, met while students of the long-time guitar instructor. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Aida Ganddini excites the crowd with foot work and hand claps during one recent Duende Flamenco performance. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Long-time flamenco guitar instructor Ted McKown applauds as Duende Flamenco's show comes to a close on a recent Saturday. The band dedicated the night's performance to the 78-year-old instructor, who taught two of the group's members. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Duende Flamenco performer Aida Ganddini dances the flamenco during a Saturday night performance at Tapas restaurant in Newport Beach. Along with castanets and shawls, large fans can be used as part of the baile (dance) in flamenco. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Justine "Tinita" Grover performs for the audience at Tapas on a recent Saturday. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Flamenco dancer Justine "La Tinita" Grover performs during a tribute concert in honor of Ted McKown. McKown has taught flamenco guitar in Orange County for decades. Grover calls him "the epicenter of flamenco in Orange County." ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

"I thought the uniform would attract the babes," he says. "It didn't work.

"That's another reason why I picked up the guitar."

At the time, he was stationed in Korea with the 7th Infantry. His buddies – many of them Puerto Ricans who favored Caribbean tunes – liked to pass idle time with a case of beer and a couple of guitars. He bought his first guitar while on leave in Japan. It cost him most of his $60 paycheck.

Growing up in Inglewood, McKown had never played any musical instrument. But in the barracks, he picked up the guitar quickly.

After his discharge, he studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. And after graduation, he began teaching guitar, specializing in classical and flamenco styles.

He loved both. But flamenco, he says, became the love of his life.

And all the while, as he traveled in Spain as a young man and as he taught eager students for decades in Orange County, flamenco has loved him back.

"It didn't bring any fame or fortune," McKown says. "But I've enjoyed having the guitar in my hands all these years."

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It's early evening at the Palmyra Senior Apartments near downtown Orange, and the local flamenco group Duende is doing what it does – transporting its audience to Spain.

Bottles of wine, plates of olives and wedges of cheese are set out on tables for the guests, who occasionally shout "Ole!" and "Viva Ted!"

The lobby is packed, and people are spilling out to the patio. But McKown sits up front, not far from the edge of the tablao, a portable wooden floor where two flamenco dancers twine and twirl and tap their heels into the wood with such force that they sound like gunfire.

The two guitarists – James "Sina" Samimi and Kenji Bakula – met years ago as students of McKown. This performance is a tribute they arranged for their teacher, a present to mark his 78th birthday.

Besides residents of McKown's apartment complex, the crowd includes members of his family, some of his students and several friends and fellow flamencos. When the performance is over, many come up to pat McKown's shoulder, shake his hand or lean down beside his wheelchair to take a picture with him.

"La Tinita," a dancer in Duende whose real name is Justine Grover, calls McKown "the epicenter of flamenco in Orange County."

McKown is a direct line to some of the legends of modern-day flamenco.

"He tells you stories about them," Grover says, smoothing back copper wisps of hair that came loose from her thick bun as she danced.

"It's like hearing somebody who knew Elvis."

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As a younger man, the swarthily handsome McKown spent a lot of time traveling around Spain.

He financed his trips by teaching guitar back home, saving up just enough to return to the Iberian Peninsula. It was there, playing in homes or in cafes, that McKown honed his flamenco technique.

"Somebody would say there's going to be a party, a huelga. You'd go to their house, play and sing and dance until the morning. It was a lot of fun."

McKown gravitated to the romance and passion of flamenco, music that originated centuries ago in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Its exact roots are debated – Sephardic Jews, Spanish Gypsies and other influences are cited. The music's dynamic, staccato rhythm is driven not just by the guitar but also by the palmas, or hand claps, and the stamping of the dancer's feet.

A flamenco guitarist can do anything he wants, McKown says, as long as he stays within flamenco's rhythmic structure. He likens it to jazz.

"You play what you feel at the moment. When you begin to play, you have no idea what you are going to do. It just sort of comes forth. Not that you haven't practiced, but you may play the same piece two times and not play anything the second time that you played the first."

His travels extended beyond Spain to other parts of Europe, where he soaked up art, history, culture. Besides learning Spanish, he is self-taught in Portuguese, French and Italian.

McKown married a woman who shared his love for flamenco, and they settled in Orange County. They divorced after 15 years but remain friends.

Maria Simpson, one of his four children, remembers her father's dedication to his music.

"If we ever had the TV on, he'd have a towel between the strings of his guitar and he was practicing," says Simpson, who also remembers cleaning the house on Saturdays to the sounds of flamenco.

"I don't think too many people grew up listening to this. In school, I never met anybody else who knew what flamenco was. They'd call it 'flamingo,' and we'd all just roll our eyes."

In the early 1980s, McKown considered moving to Spain. He didn't because it meant not seeing his children. So he stayed in Orange County, and his reputation grew.

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Samimi, who is of Persian heritage, found McKown about a decade ago.

"I thought there can't be any flamenco around here. I looked and looked and looked. I went to music shops, called around. One shop mentioned Ted."

Finding McKown meant being introduced to some 180 pieces of traditional flamenco music that the teacher has transcribed on music sheets to give to his students.

"His ability to have taken so many flamenco forms and put them into notation that you can't find anywhere else really separates him," says Samimi, 31, who works as a medical record documentation specialist.

The music sheets once were scattered in files and on tables around McKown's apartment. But his daughter has neatly organized them in cubbyholes beneath a row of 10 classical guitars that hang like pieces of art on his living-room wall.

McKown doesn't need the sheets. He knows it all by heart and ear.

"If you have a guitar and you're strumming or playing, he won't just say your guitar is out of tune, he'll say your fifth string is flat," Samimi says. "Without looking at you."

Samimi formed Duende as a guitar duo, in 2003, with Bakuya, 38, who grew up hearing flamenco music, thanks to his father, a Japanese national. Outside of Spain, flamenco is most popular in Japan.

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It's a Saturday night at Tapas, and McKown sits with his wheelchair turned away from the long dinner table where friends and family have joined him.

He watches intently as his students do what he no longer can – play guitar.

In 2006, McKown was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His hands shake from the palsy. He last played guitar about five years ago – about the same time he made his last trip to Spain.

About 20 students still come to his apartment for private lessons. What his fingers no longer do, his well-developed feel for flamenco can, says Rudy Aguila, a junior high teacher in Santa Ana who has taken flamenco lessons from McKown for nine years.

"He can even kind of sing to me how it's supposed to sound, and I can imitate it," Aguila says.

McKown still gets out to hear music, attending recitals by the Orange County Guitar Circle at Chapman University or going to the opera. He meets friends for dinner at his favorite restaurants on the Orange Plaza traffic circle, especially Felix Continental Cafe.

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